Aromatic Cheese Culture - Geotrichum fragrans
Ingredients manufacturers are seeking new ways to help dairy manufactures add value and extend their product lines. Along with the health benefits offered by probiotics, new aromas that appeal to consumers are emerging as a means of differentiation in the category. With this is mind, Cargill has introduced a new aromatic cheese culture to create subtle fruity aromas in the rind and mould of ripened cheese, a quality said to be sought after by consumers.
“The ripened cheese market is very much driven by the quest of consumers for cheeses with a more specific and stronger aroma,” said Gilles Arpaillanges, who is responsible for dairy technical support for surface and ripening cultures. He said that the combination of sweet, fruity or floral creamy notes with a creamy texture are particularly popular. The new culture, Geotrichum fragrans, was developed using computerized cheese modelling process, which enabled the Research and Development team to study a culture’s aromatic profile using chromatography and olfactometry.
Geotrichum fragrans is a fungus that develops naturally on the surface of certain cheeses. It forms part of the normal flora of Saint Nectaire. The culture is either inoculated in the milk or applied to the surface of ripening cheeses, and expresses itself best at temperatures exceeding 12C. Its activity is explained as metabolizing and quickly hydrolyzing the milk fats, then producing volatile aromatic compounds such as esters and alcohols. At the same time, it allows the pH value to be raised, but degrading the lactic acid.When combined with other microbial flavoring cultures from Cargill’s range, Geotrichum fragrans is said to be suitable for all the main cheese technologies which includes both soft and hard cheeses.
This is not the first time that culture-makers have targeted cheese consumers with fruity designs. In late 2005 Danisco extended its Choozit range of cheese cultures with a tutti-fruity flavored Geotrichum candidum, intended for a range of soft cheeses from goat’s cheese to camembert. Cargill claims that the difference between its strain and Geotrichum candidum is that it generates more fruity aromatic notes such as apple and banana and fresh, soft, creamy notes.Geotrichum fragrans was developed in
